Company to develop campus at former printing press
Australian data center firm NextDC is to expand its footprint with a new development in Melbourne.
The company this week announced a AU$2 billion (US$1.29bn) commitment to develop M4 Melbourne — a new campus at 127 Todd Road in Port Melbourne.
Located on the former Westgate Park Printing Complex, once home to the nation’s largest newspaper presses, the 150MW Fishermans Bend campus will span 50,000 sqm (538,195 sq ft).
The company said the site will host an AI Factory: a liquid-cooled facility engineered for sovereign AI. NextDC said the factory will be designed to support Nvidia Blackwell and Rubin Ultra GPUs and offer rack densities beyond 1,000kW.
“This isn’t just a data center — it’s critical infrastructure for Australia’s AI future,” said Craig Scroggie, CEO and managing director of NextDC. “M4 has been designed to meet the five critical imperatives for Australia’s AI future — speed, scale, sovereign capability, sustainability, and security.”
The site will include on-site solar and microgrids, offer its waste heat for district networks, and utilize recycled wastewater cooling.
Premier of Victoria, Jacinta Allan, added: “This investment means thousands of jobs, training for the next generation of tech workers, and cements Victoria's reputation as the center of innovation. We’re open for business, and we’re backing Victorians every step of the way.”
NextDC acquired the land in Melbourne back in 2023, and news that the company was in the planning phase for a new facility surfaced in January. Phase 1 is set to offer around 10MW, according to a previous end-of-year results presentation.
127 Todd Road, less than 3km from NextDC's existing M1 site, was previously a printing press site for News Corp, known as the Westgate Park Printing Complex. Built in 1992, the company sold the site in a leaseback deal in 2019 ahead of a full exit to a new facility.
NextDC currently operates three data centers in Melbourne. The 3,000-rack M1, also located in Port Melbourne, went live in 2012 and offers 15MW across 6,000 sqm (64,583 sq ft); M2 went live in 2017, offering 60MW across 25,000 sqm (296,098 sq ft); and M3 launched in 2022, offering 150MW across 40,000 sqm (430,556 sq ft).
Plans for a fifth Melbourne facility, M5, are under evaluation, according to the company’s 2024 results presentation.
NextDC’s website also references an upcoming 1MW Edge site in Geelong, a city outside Melbourne on the other side of Port Phillip. Further details haven’t been shared. The company recently launched a modular Edge location in Pilbara, Western Australia.
Other operators present in Melbourne include Equinix, AirTrunk, Digital Realty, Microsoft, Amazon, Stack, CDC, Telstra, and others.
